TINA MORTON
After long break to raise family, potter rekindles her love of clay
More than 250,000 unique citizens make up Saskatoon. StarPhoenix photographer Michelle Berg and reporter Stephanie McKay share the many different ways people in the city live, work and create in The People Project, a monthly photo and video series.
At her studio just outside of Saskatoon, potter Tina Morton apologizes for the mess. It’s a tidy space, but there’s clay dust on every surface, an occupational hazard in her chosen creative field.
In the cosy room, heated only by a wood-fired stove, she spends hours forming the clay into works of art. Some of her pieces are practical, like mugs, others are decorative works meant for display.
Every potter has a different style and Morton prefers work that’s a bit rustic.
“I like combining driftwood with my hand-built pottery. I think what I do lends itself to country life. I’m not really a contemporary, modern person,” she said.
Morton grew up in Saskatoon in a creative family. She took her first pottery class in high school, often working in the art room during lunch or after school. She laughs when she recalls her first piece. It was heavy, lopsided and far from pretty, but she loved creating it.
She took a long break from the medium when raising her children. Twenty-five years after that first lump of clay, she returned to pottery, signing up for a class through the Saskatoon Potters Guild. She was surprised by how challenging it was, but she was hooked.
“I just couldn’t stay away from it and I registered for every class that I could. Within a year I decided I wanted to do it full time,” she said.
That decision has led to many amazing opportunities, from workshops in Jamaica and Colorado to receiving awards for her work. She has also gone on to teach her own classes through the guild.
Though she does sell her work, making money off her pottery isn’t the main goal. For Morton, the most important thing is learning new skills and growing her art.
“In something like pottery there will always be masters, beginners, and everything in between all with their own gifts. If I’m willing I can learn from all of them,” she said. “When I make pots, there’s a little bit of every teacher I’ve had in these pots. I wouldn’t be able to do it had they not guided me.” Know someone who would make a good subject for the People Project?